Data Warehousing Implementation Success: The Findings Using Different Research Methodologies

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Data Warehousing Implementation Success The
Findings Using Different Research Methodologies

• Hugh J. Watson
• Terry College of Business
• University of Georgia
• hwatson_at_terry.uga.edu
• http//www.terry.uga.edu/hwatson/implementation_s
  uccess.ppt

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Research on Data Warehousing

• Started in 1994
• Has focused on implementation issues and
  organizational benefits
• Has utilized a variety of research methodologies

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First American Corporation

• FAC -- A bank in trouble
• Enter a new management team
• A CRM strategy, Tailored Client Solutions, was
  created

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First American Corporation

• FAC -- A bank in trouble
• Enter a new management team
• A CRM strategy, Tailored Client Solutions, was
  created
• A data warehouse called VISION was developed to
  support the strategy

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First American Corporation

• Applications using VISION were developed for
  every component of TCS

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Applications for Every Component of the Strategy

• Client Information Customer Preferences and
  Profiles
• Flexible Product Line Profitability Analysis for
  Seniors Accounts
• Consistent Service Contact Management System
• Distribution Management Distribution Management
  System

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First American Corporation

• External talent was brought in as needed
• A phased implementation strategy was followed,
  with short-term wins
• Only after early successes, was the strategy
  fully communicated throughout the bank
• Incentive and reward systems were changed

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The Outcomes at FAC

• The bank was transformed
• A shift from banking by intuition to banking
  by information and analysis
• Profits of over 211 million (US) in 1998
• A leader in the financial services industry
• Won the 1999 Society for Information Management
  Award

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What Was Learned

• A strong business vision is more important than
  existing in-house IT expertise
• Acquire the needed business and technical
  personnel
• Both organizational and technological changes are
  necessary
• Plan for "quick hit" success, and repeated
  successes

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Whirlpool

• An international manufacturer of appliances
• In the early 1990s, several business units saw
  the need for integrated data
• IT saw a data warehouse as a way to improve the
  technical infrastructure
• Sponsorship for the warehouse came from a senior
  IT manager, who left shortly after initiating the
  project

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Whirlpool

• Specific applications were developed based on the
  warehouse -- quality, global purchasing, and cost
  recovery
• Users are pleased with the warehouse but it has
  not dramatically affected how the company is run
• Senior management is aware of the warehouse but
  does not view it strategically

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A Question Why were the returns from data
warehousing so much greater at FAC than Whirlpool?
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What Was Learned

• Kotters theory of organizational transformation
  can help explain and predict why some
  organizations are more successful with their data
  warehousing efforts

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Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success

• Data warehouses are claimed to have high failure
  rates hence, the need for research
• Most of the current knowledge is anecdotal and
  based on experiences in a few firms
• A research model was developed and data were
  collected from 111 organizations

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Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success

• Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to test the
  research model

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What Was Learned

• Many of the traditional IT implementation factors
  apply to data warehousing
• Other factors, however, affect system and data
  quality
• Implementation success factors can be grouped
  together for parsimony
• Findings may be applicable to other
  infrastructure projects

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Comparing the Research Methods

• Choose a best practices company
• The company can be a source of useful insights
  and examples
• A single or multiple case studies can be used to
  develop or test theories
• Positivistic research provides more generalizable
  findings but may be weaker for providing new
  insights

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References

• Cooper, B.L., H.J. Watson, B.H. Wixom, and D.L.
  Goodhue, "Data Warehousing Supports Corporate
  Strategy at First American Corporation," MIS
  Quarterly, (December, 2000), pp. 547-567.
• Haley, B.J., The Benefits of Data Warehousing at
  Whirlpool, Annuals of Cases on Information
  Technology Applications and Management in
  Organizations, Hershey, PA, Idea Publishing
  Group, 1999, pp. 14-25.
• Kotter, J.P., Leading Change Why Transformation
  Efforts Fail, Harvard Business Review,
  (March/April, 1995), pp. 59-67.

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References

• Watson, H.J., D.L. Goodhue, and B.H.Wixon, The
  Benefits of Data Warehousing Why Some
  Organizations Realize Exceptional Benefits,
  Information Management, (forthcoming).
• Wixom, B.H. and H.J. Watson, An Empirical
  Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data
  Warehousing Success, MIS Quarterly, (March,
  2001), pp. 1-25.

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Danke